DOCSLIB.ORG

Russia and Asia: the Emerging Security Agenda

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Russia and Asia: the Emerging Security Agenda Appendix 1. Select multilateral economic and security-related organizations and initiatives in Asia, April 1999 Shannon Kile Asia–Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Korea (South), Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Viet Nam APEC was established in 1989 as an informal dialogue group to promote economic cooperation and to remove obstacles to trade between the countries of the Pacific Rim. APEC serves as the forum for an annual meeting of the foreign and economics ministers of the participating states, which is followed by a summit meeting of the heads of government. Under its auspices 10 inter- national Working Groups have been set up to address a broad range of economic, educational and environmental issues. Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Members: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam ASEAN was established by 5 neighbouring countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singa- pore and Thailand) in 1967 as a consultative forum for promoting economic and political cooperation between them. ASEAN enlarged rapidly from 1995 and now incorporates all the states in South-East Asia. ASEAN’s distinctive consensus-based form of regionalism—some- times called ‘the ASEAN way’—has been a model for regional organizations elsewhere. Its principal achievements have been in promoting greater economic integration among the member states and in fostering joint approaches to political and security issues affecting the region. Its emerging role as a manager of regional affairs was weakened by the onset of the severe financial crisis in Asia in 1997. ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference (ASEAN–PMC) ASEAN Members: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam ASEAN Dialogue Partners: Australia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Japan, Korea (South), New Zealand, Russia, USA The PMC is an annual meeting between ASEAN ministers and representatives from the countries with which ASEAN has established dialogue-partner relationships. Held after the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, it is intended to promote political and economic cooperation and regional stability. ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Members: Australia, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (South), Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, USA, Viet Nam The ARF is a forum for official intergovernmental consultations on Asia–Pacific security issues which grew out of the ministerial meetings between ASEAN and its dialogue partners and other countries with interests in the region. The ARF was proposed by ASEAN in 1993, and the inaugural meeting was held in 1994. It meets annually at the ministerial level. It also 498 RUSSIA AND ASIA convenes a number of intersessional Support Groups focusing on regional issues, the most active of which have been the groups on confidence-building measures and peacekeeping operations. Central Asian Union (CAU) Members: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Russia received observer status in 1996. The CAU was established by an agreement signed by the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in July 1994; Tajikistan joined the union in 1999. (Georgia and Turkey were granted observer status in 1999.) The union is aimed at strengthening economic cooperation between the member countries and at taking practical steps to form a Central Asian economic space that would include a free trade zone and a common market for goods, services and capital. The development of closer economic ties has been hindered by disputes over unpaid debts and import tariffs as well as by political tensions between member states. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Members: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan The CIS is a multilateral framework for promoting economic and security cooperation between the former Soviet republics. Founded in Dec. 1991 at the same time as the USSR was dissolved, it was seen by some as a mechanism for developing political and economic integration on the territory of the former Soviet Union and by others as an instrument for facilitating a ‘velvet divorce’ of the newly independent states. The organization now includes all the former Soviet republics except for the Baltic states. It has achieved only limited success in promoting greater cooperation among member states, and its role in post-Soviet economic and security matters has waned. In 1995, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed an agreement creating a CIS Customs Union; the union was joined by Kyrgyzstan in 1996 and by Tajikistan in 1999. CIS Treaty on Collective Security (Tashkent Treaty) The Treaty on Collective Security was signed in Tashkent in May 1992 by Armenia, Kazakh- stan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; it was later joined by Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia. It provided for mutual military assistance in the event of aggression against any of the signatories. It had been envisioned as the centrepiece of a CIS collective security system that would include the formation of an integrated coalition force, but yielded few concrete results. In 1999 Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan ended their participation in the treaty regime upon the expiry of the original accord. Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia–Pacific (CSCAP) Members: Australia, Canada, China, European Union, Indonesia, India*, Japan, Korea (North), Korea (South), Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, USA, Viet Nam * Associate member. CSCAP is a regional ‘track two’ initiative involving the participation of academics, business leaders, foreign and defence policy specialists, and current and former government officials. It has become increasingly active in supporting the activities of the ARF. A number of issue- oriented international working groups have been established under the auspices of CSCAP dealing with, inter alia, confidence- and security-building measures, maritime cooperation and transnational crime. Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Members: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. The ECO was established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey; the other seven members joined in 1992. Its main objectives are to increase mutual trade and to promote conditions for APPENDICES 499 sustained economic growth in the region. It consists of an executive Ministerial Council (com- prising foreign ministers or equivalent), a Regional Planning Council and a Council of Deputies (the ambassadors of the member countries in Tehran) and is supported by technical committees in the fields of economic and commercial cooperation; transport and communications; agricul- ture; energy; infrastructure and public works; narcotics; and educational, scientific and cultural matters. Georgia–Ukraine–Azerbaijan–Moldova (GUAM) agreement Members: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine In 1997 the four former Soviet republics signed an accord to promote greater economic and political cooperation among themselves outside the CIS framework; Uzbekistan joined this informal grouping in Apr. 1999. ‘Shanghai Five’ group Members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan Informal name given to summit meetings of the five heads of state. The first meeting was held in Shanghai, China, in Apr. 1996 and produced a set of agreements on military confidence- building measures. At subsequent meetings the leaders have pledged, inter alia, to cooperate in fighting terrorism and religious extremism, curbing illegal migration and establishing a Central Asian nuclear weapon-free zone. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldive Islands, Pakistan, Sri Lanka SAARC was established in 1985 as an intergovernmental forum designed to promote economic and social development in member states through joint programmes in agreed areas of cooperation including agriculture, communications, education, public health, rural development and transport. In 1995 the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) entered into force, which is aimed at gradually reducing, and eventually eliminating, tariffs within the SAARC region..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Central Asia: Confronting Independence
    THE JAMES A. BAKER III INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY OF RICE UNIVERSITY UNLOCKING THE ASSETS: ENERGY AND THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS CENTRAL ASIA: CONFRONTING INDEPENDENCE MARTHA BRILL OLCOTT SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE PREPARED IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN ENERGY STUDY BY THE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY AND THE JAMES A. BAKER III INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RICE UNIVERSITY – APRIL 1998 CENTRAL ASIA: CONFRONTING INDEPENDENCE Introduction After the euphoria of gaining independence settles down, the elites of each new sovereign country inevitably stumble upon the challenges of building a viable state. The inexperienced governments soon venture into unfamiliar territory when they have to formulate foreign policy or when they try to forge beneficial economic ties with foreign investors. What often proves especially difficult is the process of redefining the new country's relationship with its old colonial ruler or federation partners. In addition to these often-encountered hurdles, the newly independent states of Central Asia-- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-- have faced a host of particular challenges. Some of these emanate from the Soviet legacy, others--from the ethnic and social fabric of each individual polity. Yet another group stems from the peculiarities of intra- regional dynamics. Finally, the fledgling states have been struggling to step out of their traditional isolation and build relations with states outside of their neighborhood. This paper seeks to offer an overview of all the challenges that the Central Asian countries have confronted in the process of consolidating their sovereignty. The Soviet Legacy and the Ensuing Internal Challenges What best distinguishes the birth of the Central Asian states from that of any other sovereign country is the incredible weakness of pro-independence movements throughout the region.
    [Show full text]
  • Kazakhstan and Eurasian Economic Integration: Quick Start, Mixed Results and Uncertain Future
    Kazakhstan and Eurasian Economic Integration: Quick Start, Mixed Results and Uncertain Future Nargis Kassenova November 2012 L'Ifri est, en France, le principal centre indépendant de recherche, d'information et de débat sur les grandes questions internationales. Créé en 1979 par Thierry de Montbrial, l'Ifri est une association reconnue d'utilité publique (loi de 1901). Il n'est soumis à aucune tutelle administrative, définit librement ses activités et publie régulièrement ses travaux. Avec son antenne de Bruxelles (Ifri-Bruxelles), l'Ifri s'impose comme un des rares think tanks français à se positionner au cœur même du débat européen. L'Ifri associe, au travers de ses études et de ses débats, dans une démarche interdisciplinaire, décideurs politiques et économiques, chercheurs et experts à l'échelle internationale. Les opinions exprimées dans ce texte n’engagent que la responsabilité de l’auteur. Centre Russie/NEI © Droits exclusivement réservés – Ifri – Paris, 2012 ISBN : 978-2-36567-101-9 IFRI IFRI-Bruxelles 27 RUE DE LA PROCESSION RUE MARIE-THERESE, 21 75740 PARIS CEDEX 15 – FRANCE 1000 BRUXELLES TEL. : 33 (0)1 40 61 60 00 TEL. : 32(2) 238 51 10 FAX : 33 (0)1 40 61 60 60 FAX : 32 (2) 238 51 15 E-MAIL : [email protected] E-MAIL : [email protected] SITE INTERNET : www.ifri.org N. Kassenova / Kazakhstan and CU Author Nargis Kassenova is Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations and Regional Studies of KIMEP University (Kazakhstan) and Director of the KIMEP Central Asian Studies Center (CASC). Since 2008 she has been a member of the Expert/Advisory Group of the EU Central Asia Monitoring (EUCAM) project launched to monitor the implementation of the EU Strategy for Central Asia adopted in 2007.
    [Show full text]
  • Uzbekistan's New Course and the Construction of Central Asia
    Uzbekistan’s new course and the construction of Central Asia “The peculiarity of Uzbekistan’s position in understanding Central Asia is that it proceeds from the idea that Afghanistan is an integral part of Central Asia and it should be actively involved in regional economic processes and infrastructure projects,” mentions Rustam Burnashev, professor at the Kazakh-German University in the article, written specifically for CABAR.asia Follow us on LinkedIn Since the beginning of 2017, the time of the adoption of the Action Strategy for the five priority areas of development in 2017-2021,[1] Uzbekistan began to actively transform its regional policy, the goal of which, in accordance with the Strategy, was “to create a belt of security, stability and good-neighborliness around Uzbekistan.” The strategy does not fix the spatial content of this “environment”: whether it is only about the countries bordering with Uzbekistan or the coverage is wider and includes such actors as Russia, China, Iran, or Turkey. Despite the fact that back in September 2016, being the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that “the main priority of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy activity is the Central Asian region” and singled out “Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” as the country’s closest neighbors,[2] the line on the priority of Central Asia remains in the future. In this regard, the conference “Central Asia: One Past and Common Future, Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Mutual Prosperity” held in November 2017 in Samarkand under the auspices of the United Nations is indicative. It can be assumed that the “belt of security, stability and good-neighborliness” means precisely Central Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • The Interests of the Central Asian States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
    Ege Akademik Bakış / Ege Academic Review 10 (1) 2010: 395-420 THE INTERESTS OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN STATES AND THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION Asist. Prof. Dr. Ezeli AZARKAN, Dicle University, Faculty of Law, Deparment of International Law, [email protected] ÖZET Bu makale Şangai İşbirliği Örgütü ( ŞİÖ ) üyesi Orta Asya devletlerinin Örgütün amaçları bağlamında çıkarlarının neler olduğunu araştırmaktadır. Bu çalışma orta asya devletlerinin ŞİÖ‘ne üyeliklerinin güvenlik ve ekonomik çıkarları,bölgesel işbirliği ve Rusya,Çin ve Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ile dengeli ilişkiler için yararlı olduğunu göstermektedir. Orta asya devletlerinin ŞİÖ‘ne üye olmakla şu çıkarlara ulaşmaya çalışmaktadırlar: ulus oluşturma, egemenlik ve bağımsızlıklarını dış müdahalelerden korumak, ulusal güvenliklerini sağlamak, iç ve dış tehditlere karşı sınırlarını korumak, komşu devletler ile iyi ilişikler kurmak, doğal kaynakları üzerinde kontrol sağlamak ve bu kaynakları verimli bir şekilde kullanmak, ticaretlerini geliştirmek, dünya ticaret pazarlarına açılmak, ulaştırma ve haberleşme için ulusal ve bölgesel alt yapının kurulması. Ayrıca, bu devletler bölgesel güvenlik ve ekonomik gelişmenin sağlanması için terör ve uyuşturucu madde kaçakçılığıyla ortak mücadelenin sağlanması içinde ŞİÖ‘ne ilgi duymaktadırlar. Anahtar Kelimeler : Orta Asya,Enerji, Güvenlik, Avrasya,SCO. ABSTRACT This article explores the interests of the Central Asian states as members of the SCO, their compatibility with the SCO goals. This study shows that the SCO is compatible with the
    [Show full text]
  • Major Powers and Regionalism in Central Asia by Peter Krasnopolsky
    Major powers and regionalism in Central Asia By Peter Krasnopolsky Introduction Post-Soviet Central Asian states, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have emerged as separate units in the international system after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Their geographic proximity, close ethnicity and languages of their nationals1, similar religion, shared history (both preceding and during Soviet period), common resources and Soviet era infrastructure (such as water and transport links) provide wide range of grounds for cooperation. However, in the decades after independence, regional cooperation between these young states has frequently been stagnant. Moreover, pre-existing Soviet ties have, in many instances, been severed. “The main economic interests of Central Asian states lay outside the region. In 1999, only 3.1% of Kazakhstan‟s [the largest central Asian economy] trade turnover was with [other Central Asian states], and in 2009 – 2.7%.”2 The trade between Central Asia states has not reflected sharp increase in the trade between neighboring China and Russia.3 The movement of people within Central Asia has been increasingly restricted; there is little coordination and information exchange between Central Asian public organizations; the influence of common Soviet culture and Russia language is declining, yielding to new post- independence nation building rhetoric; there are fewer connections in culture, education, sports and youth exchanges.4 Relations between the Central Asian states are often complicated because of the issues in border security and management of shared water resources.5 Consequently, the level of interdependence between former Soviet republics has declined. Despite of the relatively poor state of cooperation between the countries, Central Asia contains a number of regional groupings and initiatives.
    [Show full text]
  • The Main Aim of This Working Paper Is to Invite the Researchers Working On
    IFEAC Working Paper 25 December 2017 Selbi Hanova PhD from University of St. Andrews [email protected] The ‘Ideational Regionnes’: Case of Central Asia Keywords: Regional cooperation, narratives, ideational region, foreign policy, methodology and method. The main aim of this Working Paper is to invite the researchers working on the regionalism in former USSR to venture deeper into the discussion on inter-state cooperation and ‘regionness’ of Post-Soviet Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and thus open the door to the ideational domain of narrations about the state and the region. Alasdair MacIntyre writes “I can only answer the question “What am I to do?” if I can answer the prior question “of what story or stories do I find myself a part?”1. Similarly, the ideational space of Central Asia offers insightful prospects at the narratives about the region within the official discourses of the states that comprise it. However, the notes of caution should be made. The difficulty of dissecting, deciphering and measuring this ideational realm lies in the intangible nature of the object of analysis. How does one separate regional identity? How does one measure its level of embeddedness across the region? What is the relationship between the discourses on the region and discourses on the state? All these questions require long-term research that has not been fully addressed in the studies on regionalism in Central Asia. Writing about, and analyzing, the phenomenon of regional integration in post-Soviet Central Asia
    [Show full text]
  • THE EUROPEAN UNION-CENTRAL ASIA: in the Light of the New Strategy
    Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Management and Engineering Political Science Division Master of Social Science in International and European Relations ISRN: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--09/00611--SE Master Thesis THE EUROPEAN UNION-CENTRAL ASIA: in the light of the New Strategy Nurangez Abdulhamidova Supervisor: Dr. Per Jansson URL-link: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-51548 Linköping, Sweden June 2009 Upphovsrätt Detta dokument hålls tillgängligt på Internet – eller dess framtida ersättare – under 25 år från publiceringsdatum under förutsättning att inga extraordinära omständigheter uppstår. Tillgång till dokumentet innebär tillstånd för var och en att läsa, ladda ner, skriva ut enstaka kopior för enskilt bruk och att använda det oförändrat för ickekommersiell forskning och för undervisning. Överföring av upphovsrätten vid en senare tidpunkt kan inte upphäva detta tillstånd. All annan användning av dokumentet kräver upphovsmannens medgivande. För att garantera äktheten, säkerheten och tillgängligheten finns lösningar av teknisk och administrativ art. Upphovsmannens ideella rätt innefattar rätt att bli nämnd som upphovsman i den omfattning som god sed kräver vid användning av dokumentet på ovan beskrivna sätt samt skydd mot att dokumentet ändras eller presenteras i sådan form eller i sådant sammanhang som är kränkande för upphovsmannens litterära eller konstnärliga anseende eller egenart. För ytterligare information om Linköping University Electronic Press se förlagets hemsida http://www.ep.liu.se/ Copyright The publishers will keep this document online on the Internet – or its possible replacement – for a period of 25 years starting from the date of publication barring exceptional circumstances. The online availability of the document implies permanent permission for anyone to read, to download, or to print out single copies for his/hers own use and to use it unchanged for non-commercial research and educational purpose.
    [Show full text]
  • “The Forgotten Region: Russia and Eurasia 1 Kathleen J
    “The Forgotten Region: Russia and Eurasia 1 Kathleen J. Hancock Alexander Libman Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, a subset of the 15 newly independent states that replaced the vast Communist country have formed a region around Russia, while others have broken off to join Europe (the three Baltic Sea states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and others have connected with one or more other regions, depending on time and issue area. The formal regional agreements that characterize Eurasia have been mostly top-down approaches led by the Russian presidents, beginning with Boris Yeltsin and continuing today with Vladimir Putin. After going through a series of names, the independent states minus the Baltics are now generally referred to as Eurasia to denote the basic geographic fact that they spread across the two continents, but also, for some, the political point that this region is historically not entirely of either continent, instead its own unique space. Scholars who are mostly from Russia, Europe, and the US, many of whom were once Soviet experts, have been studying the region since 1991, with the Western scholars mostly looking to include the area in theoretical literature but with limited empirics and the Russian scholars, occasionally joined by colleagues in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, focusing on empirics largely absent theoretical frameworks. We argue that significant contributions to our understanding of economic, political, cultural and other issues in the region will be made when these two groups of scholars work more closely together. In turn, scholars of regionalism who systematically include this often forgotten region in their comparative analyses will advance the fields, for both those working on regional issues in Eurasia and those studying regionalism from a comparative perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • The Security of the Caspian Sea Region
    12. Kazakhstan’s security policy in the Caspian Sea region Konstantin Syroezhkin The analysis of Kazakhstan’s role in the Caspian Sea region requires an exploration of the specific geopolitical processes that are taking place in the region as well as of the various aspects of the social, economic and political situation in the republic. This chapter deals with both. I. The concept of national security The shaping of the security doctrine of Kazakhstan has been influenced by a number of internal and especially external factors. The country’s leadership has had to take into account (a) the ethnic and social composition of the population of the republic; (b) the need at least partly to retain economic relations within the framework of the once unified economic complex of the former USSR; (c) the activation of the idea of Turkic unity at the beginning of the 1990s; (d) the acute need for foreign investment in the economy of Kazakhstan; (e) the unfolding geopolitical ‘game’ around the Central Asian region; and (f) the inadequacy of Kazakhstan’s own economic and military potential and the need to establish a collective security system. In its first security doctrine worked out at the end of 1991 and early 1992, Kazakhstan formulated the goal of carrying on bilateral negotiations outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) mechanism, but at the same time continuing to support the development of the institutions of the CIS. To achieve this goal the country’s leadership set three objectives: (a) to retain special rela- tions with the Russian Federation; (b) to establish a Central Asian Union (CAU); and (c) to support the conclusion of a wide-ranging security treaty within the framework of the CIS.1 The signing on 15 May 1992 of the Treaty on Collective Security (the Tashkent Treaty)2 was the first step in attaining one of those objectives.
    [Show full text]
  • Kazakhstan's Foreign Policy in the 2020S
    No. 51 l May 2020 KENNAN CABLE Then-Foreign Affairs Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, speaking at the UN Security Council September 2018. Photo credit: Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations A Rising Global Player: Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy in the 2020s By Wilder Alejandro Sanchez Media attention towards Central Asia generally an independent power with its own objectives and focuses on initiatives announced by the so-called great ambitions. Moreover, Kazakhstan is looking to increase powers, namely China, the Russian Federation, and its image and influence, in Central Asia and beyond. the United States. Yet if we are to understand how this great power competition – namely, how the three aforementioned nations are “competing to shape Kazakhstan and Great Power security architectures, as well as norms and practices Competition worldwide” – will unfold in the region, we must also During the presidency of longtime leader Nursultan understand the foreign policy objectives and priorities Nazarbayev (1990–2019), Kazakhstan efficiently of the Republic of Kazakhstan and other Central Asian balanced its relations with Russia, China, and the U.S. 1 governments. For Kazakhstan to maintain and advance its current Kazakh foreign policy does not envision itself as a status, there are several outstanding issues that Nur- 2 pawn on some Eurasian chessboard, but rather as Sultan, Kazakhstan’s capital, needs to address. No. 51 l May 2020 KENNAN CABLE Let’s start with China. The two countries share a Security agreements provide a stable base for the long border and have long enjoyed close military Russian-Kazakh relationship as well as Kazakhstan’s relations, most recently exemplified by the late membership to the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic 2018 visit by Vice Chairman of the Central Military Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Crisis of Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: Who Is to Blame and What to Do? View from Uzbekistan
    Crisis of regional cooperation in Central Asia: who is to blame and what to do? View from Uzbekistan Farkhod Tolipov, a political analyst from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in an article written for CABAR, discusses the subjective and objective factors of the crisis of regional cooperation in Central Asia, the role of Tashkent and Astana in this process and the need to return to the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO) as an intra-regional platform. Follow us on LinkedIn! Introduction The crisis of regional cooperation in Central Asia today is widely discussed in both political and expert communities. Since the collapse of the former Soviet state, the research and the political thought of the region has evolved in a complex post-Soviet context. It seems that in this evolution process, there is a popular trend of consolidating the stereotype that this is not a region as such and that the integration processes in the relationship between the five countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – are supposedly a myth, and it is time to get rid of it. This macro-stereotype was “consistently” reinforced by micro-stereotypes, ranging from regular statements about the alleged rivalry between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for leadership in the region and to an indication that the five states in the region have created five different political and economic systems that are not compatible with each other. This postmodern criticism against regionalism and the associated method of constructivism in the analysis of relations between the Central Asian countries have launched a whole discourse about the events in this region in such a way that the study of Central Asia has significantly diverted from the factual existence into the realm of narratives.
    [Show full text]
  • Kyrgyzstan Talant Sultanov 19
    MAY 2017 CENTRAL ASIA AT 25: LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD A Collection of Essays from Central Asia EDITORS: Marlene Laruelle Aitolkyn Kourmanova Central Asia Program Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies Elliott School of International Affairs The George Washington University This edited volume includes essays from experts, jour- nalists, and practitioners who work in Central Asia and reflect on what they consider the main successes and failures of these 25 years of national sovereignty, as well as the challenges their societies face in the near and long-term future. ISBN: 978-0-9988143-1-5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Marlene Laruelle 5 PART I INDEPENDENCE AND (DIS)INTEGRATION 25 years of Independence in Central Asia: Challenges from the Past Sanat Kushkumbayev 7 Central Asia at 25: Uncertainties of the Quarter-Life Crisis Nargis Kassenova 10 25 Years of Independence—Uzbekistan Mirzohid Rahimov 12 25 Years of Tajik Sovereignty: History and Prospects for Development Guzel Maytdinova 15 25 Years of Independence—Kyrgyzstan Talant Sultanov 19 Central Asia: The Disintegration Theory Farkhod Tolipov 22 Central Asia: The Integration Theory Farkhod Tolipov 25 The Economy of Central Asia in Retrospective, Past, Present, and Future Sobir Kurbanov 29 PART II TRANSFORMED IDENTITIES, TRANSFORMING SOCIETIES On the Question of the Formation and Development of Identity in Kazakhstan and the Central Asia Region Valikhan Tuleshov 32 Kyrgyz Nationalism: Problems of Nation-Building and a Plan for the Future Anar Musabaeva 35 Nation-Building in Kazakhstan
    [Show full text]